This Delegate Is Not Happy With The Way The GOP Convention Is Going

TAMPA, FLA. — While political conventions are designed to unite a
party and build momentum going into the general election, some
delegates here in Tampa are a little disappointed with how the
2012 GOP convention has turned out.

One such delegate is George Engelbach, an Abraham Lincoln fan
from Jefferson County, Mo., who dressed up like the 16th
president for the first day of the convention.

I ran into Engelbach Monday night on the deck of the Tampa Bay
Times Forum, where he was getting some air after spending several
hours on the floor.

This year's convention is a little bit of a let-down, Engelbach
said, noting that this is the fourth consecutive convention he
has attended.

"I've been involved in the Republican Party for a long-time," he
told me. "And I can tell you, things are a little
different this year. For example, at other conventions,
usually they have two venues as big as this one, and one of them
is just filled with vendors selling all sorts of things. But at
this one, there are hardly any vendors at all. There's just the
one venue."

The other surprising difference this year has been the change in
schedule, Engelbach said, referring to the convention committee's
decision to move the state roll call and the nomination of
Mitt
Romney and Paul
Ryan to the afternoon of the first day of the convention. In
the past, the roll call and the nominations — the entire reason
for the convention in the first place — are held during primetime
on the last two nights of the convention.

"So I guess we can all go home now," Engelbach
said, laughing.

Engelbach, who describes himself as pro-life "through and through
and through," is also frustrated with the party's
treatment of his state's U.S. Senate candidate, Todd Akin, who
Engelbach describes as "just an incredible
individual."

"He made a mistake, and he's asked for
forgiveness," Engelbach said. "If they put as
much effort into helping save his campaign as they have put into
attacking him, he would win the race, no doubt."

For Engelbach, the convention caps off what he describes as a
roller-coaster primary season. After originally supporting
Newt
Gingrich in the Republican primaries, Engelbach said he voted
for Rick
Santorum when Gingrich did not make it on to the ballot in
Missouri. Then, during his state's county conventions, Jefferson
County was the site of a major battle between longtime party
stalwarts, like Engelbach, and supporters of Ron
Paul, who teamed up with "the Tea Party people" to push
through a slate of delegates.

"That was a very laborious day," Engelbach told me. "But
in the end, we outmaneuvered them."

Since then, Engelbach has been frustrated by the Romney
organization in Jefferson County, which he suspects he is run by
a Paul supporter who isn't doing much to reach out to the party
organization in the county.

Still, Engelbach said he is happy with Mitt
Romney as the party's presidential nominee.

"I like him fine," he said. "Even a piece of driftwood
from the Mississippi River would be better than the guy we have
up there right now."